When Rose met Dimitri
by MRoseHathaway13
Summary: When Rose meets Dimitri in a coffee shop, a connection is made. What happens next? Romance and drama of course!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"Shit!" I grumbled as my phone rang. I glanced at the time before answering my phone. _7:55am_.

"Hello?" I mumbled through the receiver to whoever was calling me at this time of the morning. I was supposed to be up 10 minutes ago but I had slept in. Again.

"Rose? Get up sleepy head. Seriously, where are you? I may be your best friend but I'm also your boss."

After high school, my best friend Lissa went off to college to study medicine where as I decided to travel the States and I had even trekked over to Europe for a few weeks to sight see. We'd known each other since kindergarten and were practically sisters. When her parents died during our senior year, my mum let her stay with us. I had gotten my own apartment once Lissa went off to college where she lived on campus. That's where she met her boyfriend Christian. He was nice enough, we have had our fair share of debacles but he loved Lissa and made her happy and that's all that matters. Once Lissa had finished her degree she had opened her own surgery and when I lost my job, she gave me a job at the front desk as a receptionist.

"Yes, Liss, I'm up. Calm down. I'll grab your usual and I'll be there soon." I hung up and quickly pulled on some clean work clothes. I didn't bother showering because I had had one the night before to wash my hair. I bound my still damp hair into its usual bun and grabbed my keys. I rushed down the three flights of stairs and into the basement car park. The coffee shop was only a block away but it would take me a solid 15 minutes to get to the surgery.

I pulled up out the front and I sighed to myself. I checked my watch. _8:07 Am_. Good, I thought to myself. I jumped out of the car and jogged inside.

"Shit! Not again. That's the second time this week" I grumbled. The line was almost at the door. Apparently I was too loud as the guy walking past me stopped and turned.

"Did you say something Miss?"

I spun around and expected to stare straight into the face of the guy who had stopped but I found myself looking up. This guy was tall, and I'm talking like 6'6-6'7. Don't get me wrong, I liked tall guys but this guy was TALL. Most guys I had dated in the past were usually only a tiny bit taller than me, although there was one guy that was shorter than my average 5'7 height.

I peered up at him. He was gorgeous. He had deep brown eyes and his dark brown hair was visibly tied in a tiny ponytail at the back of his neck. He was in work out gear and carried a tray filled with two coffees.

"Oh. Nothing. The lines just long today, that's all."

"Are you in a hurry?" His thick accent rang through in those small four words and I couldn't pick up on where he was from. My guess was somewhere in Europe.

I nodded. "Yeah, my boss will kill me if I'm late again."

He smiled and extended his free hand to me. "Dimitri." I shook his large and sturdy looking hand and returned the smile. "Rose."

"Well Rose, you can take my coffees. Just because you're pretty," his smiled widened. "I have time to wait in line again. They aren't expecting me at work til 9:30am."

I felt a warmth spread to my cheeks and I prayed to god he wouldn't notice.

"No, honestly, it's fine. They're your coffees. I can wait. It wouldn't seem right, I mean, I just met you."

"Trust me, take them. I can wait. You may be waiting a while, there's a new guy on the counter."

His smile reassured me and I sighed.

"Ok, thanks, uh, Dimitri." He smiled when I used his name for the first time.

I returned the smile and he was about to hand me his tray when he suddenly jerked it away. I was confused but that confusion disappeared when he turned back to me and the handed the tray over. I looked down at the order slip. Thank god, Lissa's usual plus a hot chocolate. At the bottom was his name and number, but it wasn't a mobile. I decided not to question it.

He smiled. "Better get a wriggle on Rose, wouldn't want to be late again." He chuckled.

"See you. Thanks again," I held up the tray. "I appreciate it." I smiled and headed for the door.

"See you around Rose."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two**

When I had arrived at work, Lissa was sitting at my desk answering phones and there was a line in the waiting room. With Lissa being the only doctor and there only being one receptionist in the small practice, it was hard to keep on track with appointments when I ran late.

"I swear Rose, if you weren't my only receptionist, I would have fired you by now. But aren't you lucky that we have a new doctor starting next week. Then maybe I'll hire an extra receptionist if we can pull in enough money with two doctors on."

"Good morning to you too Liss," She hugged me and chuckled "Here's your coffee, and oh, I do I have a story for you." I winked and handed her coffee over.

"Oh, was he hot?" She giggled.

"Liss, not now, you have patients. I'll tell you at lunch"

She sipped her coffee and greeted her first patient as she led them through to her examination room at the back of the surgery. I took a seat at my desk and drank my hot chocolate. The day wasn't overly busy for a Tuesday so I had time to ponder over whether I should call Dimitri or not. I figured I should talk to Lissa first, she was better in the boyfriend department seeing as she's been with Christian for almost 4 years now. Lunch rolled around quicker than usual as I was dying to tell her about Dimitri. I gave Lissa a detailed play by play of my morning in the coffee shop. Had she not been with Christian, she probably would've gone after Dimitri.

"Call him! You never know what will happen. If you chicken out, I'll do it!"

"Lissa, do you really think Christian is going to appreciate you calling a very good looking guy from somewhere in Europe?"

"Europe?! Rose, you didn't tell me he was a spunky European guy! Hmm, I wonder where he's from."

I let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, Liss, I'll call him. But you need to shut your mouth while I talk to him." She nodded excitedly. I pulled the number out of my pocket and dialled the number. What I heard next I had not expected.

"Atlanta Base Hospital, Anna speaking. What can I do for you today?"

_Huh? Atlanta Base Hospital? Had he given me the wrong number by mistake?_

"Uh, hi, I'm looking for a Dimitri; I must have the wrong number. Sorry for wasting…"

"Oh, Dr Belikov?" She interjected. "Yes, just hold one moment and I'll put you through."

A short piece of classical music played while I was on hold. He didn't tell me he was a doctor; He wasn't even dressed like a doctor when I met him this morning.

"Good morning, Dr Belikov speaking. What can I do for you?" He spoke so professionally on the phone but he was so casual in the coffee shop.

"Dimitri?"

"Yes?" He asked sceptically.

"It's Rose, from the coffee shop this morning. This is the Dimitri that gave me his coffees, isn't it?"

"Oh, pretty Rose. Did you make it to work on time?"

"No, I was a tad late. Again."

"Shame. What can I do for you Rose?"

"Um, I was wondering if you were free Friday. I was thinking we could maybe go out for drinks or something? It's ok if you can't make it." I wonder if he noticed the anxiety in my voice. I swallowed.

"Sure! I'd love to. I'll pick you up at 8 on Friday. Just text me your address and I'll be there." I scrawled down his number on a prescription pad I quickly grabbed off Lissa's desk.

"Great. I'll see you then. I'll let you get back to work. Bye"

"I look forward to seeing you Rose. Bye."

Once I had hung up, Lissa jumped up and threw her arms around me. I don't think I've ever seen her so excited before. Well except for when Christian proposed last month. I almost went deaf when she rang me screaming and crying with happiness.

"Yay! Rose has a date with a spunky Russian!" she said in a singsong voice.

"How do you know he's Russian?"

"I heard his voice through the phone, definitely Russian. One of my college professors was Russian. I recognised the accent."

We returned to work after our lunch break which we also had to close up to due to lack of staff. My day seemed to get slower as the day progressed. Phone calls, bleeding patients and screaming kids. Just another average day at the Dragomir Medical Clinic. And Friday couldn't come soon enough.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

_**I would also like to give a quick thankyou to those who have subscribed and reviewed. This is my first fan fiction story after starting to read it last week. This support so far is overwhelming. I am also open to suggestions. So if there is something you'd like to see in the story, you know what to do: leave a review**___

_**Now on to chapter 3.**_

**Chapter Three**

The rest of the week went slowly, like always. I tried not to think about my date with Dimitri, hoping that would make Friday come quicker, but it didn't. It just made me picture his gorgeous deep brown eyes even more when I tried not to think about him. On Wednesday, I had text Dimitri and left him my address. I figured if I had talked to him on the phone too much before I wouldn't have anything to talk to him about on our date. Lissa had closed the surgery an hour early when Friday finally rolled around. And it wasn't because of my date; it was because Friday was Lissa and Christian's date night. This happened every Friday. So it was just my luck that I had more time to get ready. When I got home, I had something light to eat and watch TV until 6pm. I wasn't going to be one of those girls who was ready long before their date actually arrived. I had showered, washing my long brown hair. Today I decided to wear it down. I quickly blow dried it and let it hang down my back. With skin like mine, I didn't have a lot of need for makeup so I just applied some mascara and some lip gloss. It was only drinks so I was sure that a dress wasn't really needed. I settled on a pair of black skinny jeans and a red sequined tank top. I threw on my black heels and moved all my essentials to a small black clutch. I put on some earrings and a silver bracelet Lissa had given me. I glanced up at the clock in my apartment _7:55pm. _I was just about to sit down on my lounge and wait when there was a knock on my apartment door. I shot up and adjusted my shirt. I walked over to my door and peered through the peep hole. It was Dimitri. I took a deep breath and I swung the door open. There he was and boy was he gorgeous. Even in his leather duster.

**DPOV**

I was nervous pulling up to Rose's apartment. I was early. I debated with myself about whether I should wait 5 minutes or if I should go now. I couldn't wait to see her, so I decided to go straight away. I pulled out the piece of paper with her address on it and double checked the street sign and number on the apartment building. This was it. I took the stairs which gave me more time to practice my hello. I got to apartment 3B and I stood there for a moment before I knocked. There was a shuffle and the door flung open. It took me a moment to register who she was because the day I met her, her hair was in a bun. Tonight, it cascaded almost to her waist. It was dark and it was beautiful. She was beautiful.

"Wow. Um, Hi rose." She blushed. It was cute. I made sure she knew I hadn't seen it and looked down at my hands in front of me.

"Hi." She replied shyly.

"You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let me just grab my jacket and we can go."

She picked up a leather jacket from the couch and locked her door from the inside.

"Let's go." She smiled up at me.

I gently touched her waist as she left her apartment. I avoided touching her hair in case she thought I was already feeling her up. She just blushed some more before she leaned up and kissed my cheek.

"I've been waiting all week for this."

"So have I." I smiled back at her and held out my hand. She gently took it without hesitation. I led her to my car and helped her in. The drive to the bar was silent but far from awkward. It took us about 20 minutes to get to the bar she had described. I had only been living her 6 months and I was still unsure as to where most things were. She happily gave me directions. We parked round back and as we approached the door, Rose grabbed her ID out of her purse.

"You are old enough to drink I hope"

She laughed "Yeah, I'm 22."

The bouncer didn't check my ID. Maybe they figured that because of my height and size that I was definitely over the age of 21.

"Why didn't they check yours?"

"I'm 26. They know because that bouncer, Stan, got glassed one night and I had to stitch him up at the hospital. It was my first week on the job in the ER at the hospital and he was the worst I had had since being there."

She nodded and smiled.

"Would you like a drink?"

"Sure, I'll have a vodka and orange."

Good, I thought to myself, she likes vodka.

She grabbed a seat at one of the bar tables across the room. It was still early. Most people didn't go to bars until about 9 so it wasn't as packed as I thought. The bartender was quick, producing the drinks I had ordered in only a few minutes. I walked over to where Rose was sitting. She was fiddling with her hands and I thought it was cute. When she saw me coming, her head shot up and she gave me the biggest smile. I could tell this night was going to be fantastic.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 4**

**RPOV**

The date was going amazingly. We talked, drank and laughed for hours. He told me about his family back home in Russia and how his dad died when he was just 13. He talked about his 3 sisters and his nephew. He was so open. We had only met on Tuesday and this is first time we really talked. He was funny and sensitive. I had never met anyone like him.

"Ok, let's play 20 questions."

"Are we in high school still Rose?"

"What? At least it isn't truth or dare." My smile widened when he nodded his head. We had moved to one of the booths at the back of the bar where it was quieter and more secluded. We sat across from each in the tiny booth. Some of my questions were silly, but that's because I was getting tipsy. His favourite colour is blue and his favourite books are westerns. That's all I remember. I was giggly and I think Dimitri thought it was time to take me home when I almost fell over walking to the bathroom. He held me up as he led me to his car. He had stopped drinking over an hour ago but I had kept going. He drove me back to my apartment. He had insisted on leaving me there and heading home, but when I started feeling nauseous, he stuck around and made me a coffee. I had definitely pushed the drinking tonight and I hadn't meant to. Luckily, Lissa's surgery didn't open til 12pm on a Saturday. Once I had finished throwing up, the nausea wore off and Dimitri helped me into bed. He only removed my shoes and he pulled the covers back on my queen sized bed. He helped me from the bathroom and lifted me onto the bed. After he had pulled the covers over me, he kissed my head.

"I should go Rose, it's getting late."

"No, stay please. Dimitri, stay." I mumbled. I wanted him to stay so I knew the night had really happened. He hesitated.

"I'll go crash on the lounge, if you need me that's where I'll be." He was about to leave the bedroom when I replied.

"No. By stay, I mean, like here, in bed. With me."

He hesitated more. "Roza, it's only our first date, don't you think it's too soon."

I shook my head like a little kid and he let out a light chuckle through the darkness of my bedroom. He never answered me but I knew what his answer was shortly after when he slid into the bed next to me. He had taken his shoes and his duster off as well as his button up shirt. He had a t-shirt on underneath his shirt and when I rolled into his arms, I could feel the muscles through his shirt. I attempted to remove his t-shirt but he grabbed my hand.

"Roza, stop. You're drunk. Come on, don't be silly."

I groaned. "Do you not want me?"

"Of course I do, Rose. But I can't take advantage of you in your state. It wouldn't be right."

He landed a soft kiss on my lips.

"Goodnig…"

I cut him off. I had wrapped my arms around his neck and I pulled my lips to his. They were warm and welcoming. He started to protest but I wouldn't let him. I tugged at his shirt and he helped me take mine off too. He pulled me close and his hands ran down the small of my back. One of my hands was tangled into his hair and he nuzzled my neck.

"Roza, we shouldn't."

"Oh yes we should."

When things got heated, and the rest of our clothes came off, he pulled me even closer. His lips were harsh. He wanted me. And I wanted him. So much. And this was going to happen.

And it did.

**DPOV**

Rose was beautiful when she slept. She was tangled in the sheets on her bed. I had gotten up before she awoke and I had helped myself to a shower. It was 7am and I knew she wouldn't get up til at least 9. I had seen the coffee shop on the way home and I knew that it was only a block away. I left Rose a note telling her where I was and that I'd be back soon. I left it on my pillow and kissed her head. She stirred slightly before she burrowed herself under the covers more. I knew that taking my car would've taken longer so I jogged down to the coffee shop. It had just opened so there were no lines. I grabbed my usual, knowing she would drink at least one of them and headed back. I had left Rose's door unlocked because I didn't want to take her key. When I arrived back, she was still asleep so I put the coffees on her night stand and knelt down next to where she slept.

"Rose?" I whispered.

She stirred some more before she yawned.

"Hmm?"

"Rose, I bought you some coffee." I kissed her forehead gently and she sat up. A bit too quickly I think because she held her head, groaned and slumped back onto the bed.

"You ok Rose?"

"No, I have a massive hangover. Can you go to the bathroom cupboard and get me some ibuprofen?"

"Of course. Just drink some coffee and you'll feel a little better soon."

I headed to her bathroom and found her some painkillers when she called out to me

"Dimitri, what time is it?"

I looked down at my watch. "It's 8:30. Why?"

"Shit! I'm late for work! Liss is going to kill me."

"Rose," I said as I walked back into her bedroom "It's Saturday. Nothing opens til 12."

"Oh, right, it is too. My hangover must be bad."

I chuckled at her once she realised she was half naked. But she didn't cover up. She just beckoned me to the bed with her eyes and I gladly crawled onto the bed and lay down next to her. I held her in my arms.

"You need more sleep Rose. Take some painkillers and I'll wake you up when you have to go to work." I kissed her head and she relaxed. She was asleep in no time. That moment, it was perfect. That's when I knew I wanted this forever.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 5  
****RPOV**

I was woken to a light push and a tickling sensation near my ear. I giggled and rolled over. Dimitri was lying next to me, but he was fully clothed unfortunately.

"Roza, it's time to get up, you have to go to work. Lissa won't be happy if you're late again."

"But I don't wanna go to work. I still feel yucky. Think Lissa will let me stay off? It's never busy on Saturday anyway."

"Rose, I barely know Lissa, I don't know if she will." He let out a low chuckle. "If you hurry up, I'll take you to work."

I sat up properly. "No Dimitri, I'm sure you've got more important thing to do. It's ok, I'm sure my hangover will be gone by the time I leave." I smiled and he nodded.

"You sure Rose? I don't mind, honestly."

I jumped off the bed, and rummaged through my washing for cleanish clothes. Dimitri got off the bed and pulled me close.

"I really enjoyed last night." His lips were warm and soft.

"Dimitri, I have to go to work."

He kissed me longer and he soon pulled away. He let me go and grabbed his duster off the arm chair in my room.

"Ok Rose. Let's do it again?"

I nodded like a school girl talking to her crush. I kissed him on the cheek as he left and watched him from the window of my lounge room.

I took a quick shower and threw on my clothes and headed to work. When I arrived at the surgery, it was locked. I dialled Lissa's number and it took a while for someone to pick up. And by someone, I mean Christian.

"Hello?"

"Christian, where's Lissa?"

"Nice to speak to you too, Rose."

"Where's Lissa?" I pressed again.

He sighed and I heard a muffled sound through the receiver.

"Hello?" Lissa sounded groggy, like she had just woken up.

"Lissa, why aren't you at work?"

She cleared her throat and replied "Rose, I'm closing the surgery down on Saturdays now because we get the new doctor in on Monday. I thought you knew that."

"Who's the new doctor?"

"I don't know, the hospital is supplying one for us because I applied for assistance. So we'll both know when we meet them Monday morning."

"Oh, Ok. I guess I'll see you then. I'll call you later," I heard a faint giggling on the other end "You seem preoccupied and I'd rather not be listening to it."

"Ok, I might actually come round tonight, Christian's working at the bar tonight, they gave him the late shift so I'll be home alone."

"Kay Liss, I'll see you then. Bye."

She had barely said goodbye when she hung up, obviously Christian was keeping her busy. And I didn't want to think about that. I headed home and waited for Lissa. She came round about 7 and we ordered Chinese takeout. We talked all night and when Christian had finished work he picked Lissa up and took her home.

Monday rolled around slowly. I was excited to meet the new doctor. I was hoping the hospital hadn't sent us some cranky old man or lady. Instead, Both Lissa and I were surprised when the new doctor walked in. Only two words could escape my mouth when I saw his tall frame enter the front door of the surgery.

"Holy shit."

"Rose?"

"Dimitri?" We said in unison. Lissa's jaw visibly dropped when I said his name.

Lissa piped up "So you must be the doctor the hospital sent us?"

Dimitri looked both shocked and nervous. "Yes, I'm Doctor Belikov. But I guess Rose already told you my name was Dimitri."

The room went silent. Lissa just smiled and led Dimitri off to the second consultation room at the back of the surgery. It had been a pre-existing doctor's surgery when Lissa bought the surgery last year. It had 2 consult rooms, a waiting area and toilets. It was located in a unit block upstairs above a small grocery store. I tended to buy my groceries from there on the way home from work most days.

The day dragged on slowly and the awkwardness of what had happened earlier that day only got worse. Dimitri pulled me aside at our lunch break when Lissa went to get lunch for the three of us.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming here?"

"Rose, I didn't know I was coming here until I got up this morning. The hospital chief of staff rang me and told me I was working here until further notice."

"Oh." I sighed. "Do you think things can still work with us?"

"I don't know Rose; I guess we'll have to see as the week goes on. You just need to know that I'm passionate about my job and my career."

I swallowed and nodded slightly. I think he could tell I was upset about had happened between us in those few moments. He was amazing and I wanted to be with him. But could he want me more than his career?


	6. Chapter 6

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 6**

**RPOV**

After Dimitri started working at Lissa's surgery we barely spoke. I attempted to make things easier by keeping it professional. Each day got more and more tense. I wanted to speak to Dimitri about the situation. I had gotten to work early the following week hoping he would be willing to talk to me.

"Dimitri?" I had been sitting outside the surgery with my coffee waiting for him.

"Morning Rose."

"Can we talk?"

"What's there to talk about Rose?"

"The fact that you're not talking to me? What's wrong?"

He sighed. "Rose, you can tell it's getting awkward, can't you?"

He was right. It was awkward. He would rarely look at me and he'd never have a casual conversation during lunch. It was always professional, even when Lissa would leave to pick up lunch. I didn't know what was happening. I liked him, I really did. And I wanted to keep seeing him. Especially after him staying the night and helping me when I was sick. We had had such a strong connection.

"So, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying it's awkward and I need to concentrate on my work. I gave a patient the wrong prescription because I was distracted. Distracted by you. I can't afford to make mistakes like that again. I'm sorry. I know that wasn't what you wanted to hear."

"Oh, ok." It definitely wasn't what I wanted to hear. Had it been a Friday I could've spent the weekend watching movies and eating my weight in ice cream and chocolate. But no, it was Monday, which meant I had to see him all week.

"I'm sorry Rose, I really am." He gently kissed my cheek and held his hand up and brushed my hair from my face. I knew he liked it down so I had started to wear it down to work.

"I…I understand. Work's important, I get it."

"I'm glad you do."

I nodded and unlocked the surgery door. Lissa now started at 9 and Dimitri would open with me at 8:30. I flipped the closed sign to open and went about my normal morning duties. I filled the cups in the water dispenser and tidied the magazines. Then I started up my computer and sat at my desk. The phone started ringing so I knew it was going to be a busy day. At least then I wouldn't have to talk to Dimitri and I'd be distracted for the day. The weekend rolled around quickly because work had been busier than ever.

I was headed out for a run on Saturday morning when I spotted moving boxes across the hall. I knew the previous owner had moved but I didn't know that someone had bought the apartment. And I met him when I bumped into him on the stairs. He had a box in his arms and I almost knocked it out of his arms.

"Oh my God. I'm so so sorry. I didn't see you there. I didn't mean to bump you." We had both bent down to retrieve the fallen items so I hadn't gotten a proper look at him. But when we had both stood up I did. He was cute. His messy brown had fallen over his eyes and once he had fixed it back to its preferred messy state. They were green. I'm talking emerald green. They were gorgeous. For a split second, I had almost forgotten Dimitri.

"Hey, no problem, at least I got to meet a pretty girl on my first day in town. I'm Adrian. Pleasure."

"Rose." I held my hand out to shake it but he decided to kiss it rather than shake it. I could tell he was a ladies man. But he was charming. Maybe this was rebound I needed form Dimitri.

"Did you need any help with the boxes at all?"

"I'm fine. The movers are doing it all for me. All I get to do is carry this box."

"You sure you don't need any help?"

"Yeah, I'll be right. You obviously have other things to do anyway." I felt his eyes scan over my clothes.

"Oh, I was just going for a run. Did you want to come in for a coffee or something?"

His smile widened. "Sure, I'd love to."

He dropped the box just inside his apartment and I waited at my door to let him in.

"I'm just gonna go get changed out these clothes and I'll be right out."

"To be honest Rose, I kind of like you in those clothes." He winked at me. I blushed and decided not to get changed.

"Is coffee ok?"

"Yeah sure. If it wasn't so early, I would've have had something stronger."

I know what he really meant. He wanted alcohol. I was hoping he wasn't a drunkard or someone I wouldn't want to get too close to. He saw my face and laughed.

"I'm kidding Rose, coffee is fine."

He hung around for a few hours and we chatted. He had moved from Seattle due to family issues. His relationship with his father had caused him to take up drinking and he smelt like cigarettes. Although he never mentioned that he did. When he decided to leave and head to his own apartment, he kissed my cheek.

"I'll see you again soon, neighbour."

He winked and left with a smile. I had to admit, he was very charming and very good looking, but was he what I needed after my brief but serious stint with Dimitir?


	7. Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 7**

**DPOV**

I hadn't like hurting Rose, but I wasn't ready to destroy my career a year after starting it. I know it sounded stupid but my mother had always told me to go with my heart but it was hard when my heart was telling me to stay with Rose and succeed in my job. The one thing that scared me was that Rose might not have been there later on if I wanted her back. We had only spent a small amount of time together but I could tell this could've been a forever thing for us. I was falling for her. It was uncontrollable. But I needed to do what was right and that was to establish myself with a permanent doctor's position. But seeing her with him, that hurt. Had the weekend not meant anything to her? Had I not felt anything for her I wouldn't have slept with her Friday night.

I had passed her apartment last night on the way home from the late shift at work. She had left at 5 to go home. Lissa had found someone to work 2 days of the week and Rose had managed to get Friday off. She was getting in his car. I don't know who he was. But they seemed quite friendly. And by friendly I mean he had his arm around her and they were quite close. I decided to head to the bar after a long week. I took a seat at the same booth me and Rose had sat at just 2 weeks ago. I reminisced about that night. The way her hair hung down her back and the way her brown eyes glistened in the dim light. She was beautiful. And I missed her. I missed talking to her, being around her. But I knew I had made the right choice. If she was happy with this new guy, then I was happy for her.

What I hadn't expected was for Rose and her new friend to arrive at the same bar that I was at. There was only one bar in town, the rest were a good hour away in the city. And if you were going to drink, being closer to home was always better. They sat at the bar, which made it almost impossible for me to go and get another beer. This night was going to be enjoyable. When I finally decided I needed a refill after watching them kiss several times, I got up and walked to the bar within their line of site. She saw me as I approached. She stood up.

"Dimitri, hi. I didn't know you were here. Did you want to join us? This is Adrian. He's my new neighbour. I've been showing him around."

_Yeah, around the inside of your mouth._

"Uh, I don't want to intrude, you two seemed pretty cosy when I walked up."

"Oh, you saw that. I'm so sorry. "

"It's alright. I was heading out anyway. Just paying my TAB. Nice meeting you Adrian," I shook his hand, just for politeness. "And Rose, I'll see you at work on Monday." She waved goodbye and I left the bar without looking back.

**RPOV**

Adrian and I arrived back from the date we had set up during the week. He was as charming as ever. As we got to the top of the stairs Adrian pulled me closed and whispered three words in my ear.

"Your apartment. Now."

I knew what he meant but I was unsure if I wanted it after the time I had spent with Dimitri. But he was gone now. He didn't want me. And clearly Adrian did. We had had a few drinks but I wasn't as drunk as I had been with Dimitri on our first date. Although I had to admit, I really liked Adrian. And if something came of it then great, I was going to be happy. But if he blew me off after a one night stand like Dimitri had with some bullshit excuse about "focusing on his career", then I was going to be bummed about going through 2 guys in less than a month.

I reached into my purse to grab my keys as Adrian nuzzled into my neck and had already taken my jacket off for me. Once inside, no lights got turned on because Adrian's mouth was already to mine. He had backed me up against my apartment door. His mouth moved to my neck and his breath was warm against my skin. It made me tingle. Our clothes came off quickly and he had moved us to the lounge, his mouth back to mine. We lay on the couch, Adrian's bare skin against mine. It felt nice. It wasn't long before it started happening. I heard Adrian groan and it made me think about Dimitri. He had been gentle, yet still passionate. Adrian was rough, in a passionate way. Not that I didn't like rough. It wasn't as good as it had been with Dimitri, but I was never going to tell Adrian that. After we had finished, Adrian curled up with me under the blanket that always sat on my couch. I had amazing, I had to admit. But when morning rolled around, I was alone. Adrian had left a note on my fridge:

_Rose, last night was amazing. I'm sorry I had to leave; I had some errands to run. Thanks again. I'll call you tonight,_

_Adrian xx _

I grabbed a cup of coffee, showered and headed out to see Lissa. I needed to tell her about my night with Adrian, just like I had with Dimitri. I decided today to walk to Lissa's because the day had been clear and sunny and she only lived a few blocks away.

Christian had gone to work at his second job that morning so Lissa was home alone. When I arrived, she had been doing her nails. I smelt it when I entered her apartment.

"Liss, we need to talk."


	8. Chapter 8

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 8**

**RPOV**

"Liss, I did something terrible. I feel like shit. I slept with Adrian. And I know Dimitri wanted to focus on his career and that he couldn't be distracted and that's why he broke it off. I just feel like Adrian was a rebound and I don't want to be that kind of girl. What should I do?"

Lissa's jaw dropped at the mention of me sleeping with Adrian. I knew it was wrong. But I wasn't using him. I really did feel something for him but I felt more for Dimitri. I was so confused.

"Rose. Why? Why the new neighbour?"

"I don't know Liss, he was charming and I was trying to get back at Dimitri. We even ran into him at the bar. It was awkward. I don't know what to do. I need your help Liss."

"Listen, Dimitri likes you; he told me when you had your day off last week. He's head over heels for you. But he said he only did what he did because he wanted to focus on his work. And he wanted you to do the same. You need to talk to him Rose. If you like him, you need to tell him. You never know what will happen." She hugged me. "I know you'll do the right thing Rose."

We spoke for hours, and she helped me decide what I should do.

I knew what I had to do as I left Lissa's apartment. I said goodbye to Christian when I got the car park as he had just gotten home from work. But I was going to wait until Monday. I still had some serious thinking to do. And I had to make sure I was making the right decision. I spent Sunday in my apartment cleaning out my clothes and doing housework. It gave me more time to think.

Monday morning came around quickly and I knew I had to do what I was about to do. I got to work early. Luckily the new receptionist Jill was already opening. This gave me time to talk to Dimitri when he arrived. He seemed shocked that I actually wanted to talk to him. The surgery had an ally way around the corner and Dimitri had dragged me around there so we could talk privately without patients listening in.

"Lissa told you didn't she?" He looked at me and I was confused by the look he was giving me. All I did was nod.

"I figured as much. She's right you know. I really do like you. But I know you're happy with Adrian, I could see it. And I want you to be happy. And if he makes you happy, then so be it. You need to be happy. And I won't stop you. You just need to know how I feel." He paused, sighed and leant against the wall. He put his hands in his coat pocket. He wasn't wearing his duster; he had his white doctor's coat. It looked good, but not as good as his leather cowboy duster.

"Dimitri, I don't know what I want. But I do know that I like you too, more than I thought was possible. This is difficult for me."

He moved toward me. His hand reached out and touched my face. He leaned forward and whispered in my ear "Let me help you make up your mind." That's when he kissed me. It was soft and warm. I melted into the kiss. But it ended just as quickly as it had started. He had pulled away.

"Dimitri…"

"That's not happening again. Not until you make your choice. If you choose me, I won't put my job first. You'll come first. I love you Rose, but you need to make this decision for yourself. We should get back to work. Lissa will be pissed if we're late again."

He walked ahead of me and headed into the surgery. Why did he have to kiss me? That just made my decision harder. What was I going to do? I thought more during my day at work. I was doing filing while the new girl Jill did my normal office duties. After work had finished, I knew where I had to go. I walked up to his apartment. I had to tell him. I couldn't keep it from him. It wasn't fair. I took a deep breath and knocked. He answered the door almost simultaneously.

"Adrian..."


	9. Chapter 9

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

_**PREVIOUSLY:**_ _ After work had finished, I knew where I had to go. I walked up to his apartment. I had to tell him. I couldn't keep it from him. It wasn't fair. I took a deep breath and knocked. He answered the door almost simultaneously._

"_Adrian..."_

**Chapter 9**

"Hey Rose, what's up?"

"We need to talk. I think I made a mistake. Don't get me wrong, Friday was amazing. And I really do feel something for you. But I feel wrong not telling you about Dimitri. He loves me. And I can't lie to you and tell you I don't have feelings for him too. I can't keep leading you on. I'm so sorry Adrian. I want Dimitri. I love him. I'm sorry for hurting you."

He was slightly taken aback, but he was still upset. I hadn't wanted to hurt him but I couldn't be with Dimitri and not tell Adrian. I knew, that despite having to hurt Adrian that it was the right thing to do. Dimitri made me feel things I had never feel before. He made me feel alive and warm and happy. I wanted him.

"Rose, why?"

"He spoke to me. He told me he made a mistake. I was mad at him when I slept with you. And I know you think you were a rebound now but you weren't, I genuinely liked you, really liked you. Only because I thought he would never want me again. But now he does. And I never lost my feelings for him. I just buried them deep down because he had hurt me."

He turned and attempted to return to his apartment. I grabbed his arm and tried to turn him around to face me again.

"Rose, just go. Please. You hurt me. More than I've been hurt ever. I was happy with you. But no. you want him. So just go."

"Adrian, please..."

"I said leave."

So I did.

And I left crying. I didn't want to hurt him. But it was what I wanted.

I headed down the stairs and to my car because I had to go find Dimitri and tell him. But as I left the building, I ran smack bang into him. He looked at my red puffy eyes and wiped away the few remaining tears left over from me leaving Adrian.

"Rose, I'm sorry you had to do that."

"It doesn't matter, it's done. There's no turning back."

Tears swelled up in my eyes again and the came flowing out quicker than they had when I had left Adrian's apartment. Dimitri held me in his arms and led me to his car. But before he opened the door he pulled me close and kissed away my tears. It was dark so I barely saw him leaning towards me.

"Come on, Rose, let's get you home."

He opened the door and helped me inside. He then got in the driver's side and drove us to the other side of town where his apartment was.

**SORRY FOR THE SHORT CHAPTER GUYS, I WILL POST A LONGER ONE LATER TONIGHT, I PROMISE. ENJOY**


	10. Chapter 10

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 10**

I had never been to Dimitri's apartment before. When we had gone out, we had gone back to my place because it had been closer to the bar. It had been built when a new housing development went in a few years ago. It was over towards the other side of town, away from mine. And away from Adrian. Which is what I needed. He drove into the underground parking and pulled into the only empty space available. It must've been his reserved parking because what appeared to be his apartment number was painted on the wall ahead of us. We both got out of the car and he escorted me to his apartment. There was a lift in his complex, and it beat taking the stairs I was used to. It was clean but that could have been due to the lack of furniture. I knew he lived alone but his apartment still had 2 bedrooms, opposed to my tiny one bedroom place.

"Did you want to talk about what happened back there Rose?"

"I'd rather not. All I know is that I hurt Adrian. And now he hates me. He yelled at me Dimitri. I didn't want to hurt him. I never wanted any of this to happen." Soft sobs escaped my mouth and he pulled me closer on his couch. It was leather, but still really comfortable.

"But did you make the right decision? Rose, if you didn't, I can drive you back to him and you can take him back. Is that what you want?"

I looked up at him and for a brief moment, my heart almost stopped. I had him. He was mine now. And hopefully it was for forever.

"No, I made the right choice. I'm sure of it. I want you. I love you. That's all I know anymore." Confusion slowly swept over me. "Hang on, why were you out the front of my building anyway? Did you know what was going to happen?"

"No, I had no idea what was going to happen. You had left your phone at the surgery. I was bringing it back to you in case you needed me. I hadn't expected to get there as you were leaving."

"Dimitri, are you sure about me?"

He looked confused. His face turned serious.

"Of course Rose. I've never been so sure of anything or anyone in my entire life."

"Then why did you end it? Why did you say you couldn't be with me? It hurt me Dimitri. We had only been on one date but I felt something for you. Something real. Something so strong I didn't know what it was."

"Rose, believe me, I didn't want to do that to you. But where I grew up, your career was important. But my mother chose family. And that's what keeled me over at the end. My mother had loved my father and her family. And watching her lose him the way she did. It killed all of us. And knowing I could lose you and that I might not see you again. That made me think of my mother. You'd like her you know. You're very similar. And after I saw you with Adrian, I knew I could've lost you for good. That's why I told you I loved you." He paused and looked down to his hands then back to me. "People say that if you fall in love so quickly that you're stupid. My mother told me I wasn't stupid and that it had only taken a short time for her and my father to fall in love. That's why I believe in it. Because I've seen it. I want a family Rose, I want to love my children unconditionally the way my mother loves her kids. And if I put my career first, I'll never get that. I love you Rose. I always will."

Before he could say anymore I pulled him close to me. I looked into his eyes and he moved one of his hands to my face and softly ran his hand up to my hair and lightly played with it. His lips found mine and at first it was soft and gentle. He lifted me up and sat me on his lap so I was facing him. The kissing got more heated and passionate. Before long, with his lips still to mine, he was carrying me to his bedroom. His king sized bed was in the middle of the room. A king size seemed logical due to his impressive height. He lay me down gently and removed his jacket. It was his duster. He threw it on the floor and I imagined him picking it up later and hanging it neatly and apologising for throwing it on the floor. The thought made me giggle out loud.

"What's funny Rose?"

"Nothing. I didn't say to stop kissing me."

He chuckled and reached back down to me.

"You're impossible sometimes Rose."

"I know"

He continued to kiss me and he started to remove my shirt.

I pulled away again, almost reluctantly I might add.

"Are you sure?"

"I told you Rose, I've never been so sure in my entire life."

This time it was soft and sweet. His kisses traced my neck and down my sides and stopped at my thighs and then traced them back up. It was amazing. More than amazing.

After we had finished we lay together, with just our bare bodies to keep us more. And from that point on, I knew this was what I wanted. Dimitri was what I wanted. And I wasn't going to let go.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**SORRY FOR THE LACK OF UPDATES GUYS, I'VE BEEN AWAY AND I HAVENT HAD INTERNET. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE HAD INTERNET CONNECTION. SO HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**Chapter 11**

A few weeks had passed since my reconciliation with Dimitri. We had gone out several times and after a few months we went public. People knew about us but we never confirmed it. The day that everyone found out, even my parents, was Lissa and Christian's engagement party. Since Lissa's parents had died, my mum had offered to throw the party. Christians' parents had died too. But he had gone his whole life without, Lissa only 5 years. He had lived with either his grandparents or his aunt. And they had been there that night. They were nice enough. That is until Christian's aunt Tasha decided she thought it would be fun to flirt with Dimitri – even when I was around. She barely knew him. Most people barely knew him. Except me. Despite having only known him for just under 6 months, it was like I had known him my whole life. I don't think Tasha understood that he was taken, but Dimitri laughed it off her flirting. He was mine and I was his. And I was going to make sure Tasha knew that. I had dragged Dimitri onto the makeshift dance floor and it stopped her in her tracks. After she had seen me plant a big kiss on his lips, she never approached him again.

"Rose, you didn't have to be so full on just then."

"Are you blind? She was flirting with you. She was trying to get you to leave with her. I've seen how girls like her work. They don't care if you're taken, they only care that you're hot. They just swoop in and bam, they expect you to go home with them."

We had begun dancing, along with a few other people. The party hadn't been huge, but Lissa wanted it that way. My parents had been invited, which made sense seeing as though they kindly took Lissa in after her parents died. My mom hadn't known that I had been seeing anyone. So it was a shock to both of our cores when she approached Dimitri and me.

"Rose, who is this? You never told me you were bringing a date."

I spun around and saw my mother with her arms folded in front of her. Her red curly hair stuck out everywhere. Behind her was my father. They never married but my dad was there as much as any other dad. He had also created a strong bond with Lissa which meant he was like a father to her. She had even asked him to walk her down the aisle at her wedding.

"Seriously Janine? We've been here 5 minutes and you're already killing Rosemarie's buzz. She's having fun, leave her alone." He turned to me. "But your mother's right. You never told us you were bringing someone."

Dimitri towered over my dad, but that didn't mean my dad was short. He was at least 6'1 and my mum was only 5'. It was quite a scene with the two them standing next to each other. Luckily I had gotten my dad's height; otherwise I would've looked weird next to Dimitri.

Dimitri, being the polite gentleman he was, extended his hand to my dad who promptly shook it. "Abe. And you are?"

"Dimitri Belikov, sir."

My father nodded his head. "Ah yes, the new doctor at Lissa's surgery. She's needed the help. She's really grateful for all the help you've given her."

He gave my dad a small smile. I turned to my mother who still had her arms crossed.

"Actually mom, he's more than a date. He's my boyfriend."

My mom and dad looked at each other, like they were almost shocked at the news.

"Your boyfriend? How long has this been going on?"

"Since when have you cared about my love life mom? But to answer your question, it's been 3 months. We met at the coffee shop near my apartment. He gave me his coffees when I was running late. Then he started working at the surgery."

"How…romantic." My mother had always been very straight forward. Sometimes I thought she was cold hearted. But then I remembered the short winded yet romantic relationship she had had with my dad. That's how I came along. She had been travelling in Turkey when she met him. So she had some sort of romantic bone in her body, but it never showed.

My dad elbowed her lightly. "Janine, leave her alone." He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the bar. I sighed and pulled Dimitri towards the door. He seemed puzzled as to why I was headed to the exit.

"Rose, we can't leave, Lissa wants you here."

"I'm not leaving, I just need air. My mom's always like that. She just frustrates me."

I ran my hand through my loose hair and Dimitri grabbed my hand.

"Roza, I'm sure she's not that bad. Everyone's mothers frustrate them."

He pulled me closer and held me tight. He ran one of his large hands over my hair, patting it down. He pulled away slightly and looked down at me.

"Move in with me."

"You sure? You don't think it's too soon?"

"Rose, I love you. That's all I know. Will you?"

I didn't hesitate. I looked up at him. "Of course. I love you."

"I love you too Roza."


	12. Chapter 12

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 12**

The following weekend was the weekend I moved in with Dimitri. He had helped me move some of my furniture. I was yet to sell my apartment so the remainder of my furniture stayed there. I had moved my clothes, all my personal belongings and a few pieces of larger furniture, mainly the things Dimitri didn't have. It had taken almost a full weekend to move a lot of it. On Sunday afternoon, after a long day of moving boxes, we flopped down onto the lounge. We were both so tired and worn out. He put one arm around me and pulled me close. I rested my head on his chest.

"I have something for you Roza."

He pulled away slightly and reached into the pocket of his duster which lay on the floor beside him. He handed me a plain white envelope.

"Open it," He encouraged me "I've been waiting a while for this."

I looked at him suspiciously and opened it up.

"Plane tickets? Dimitri, where are we going?"

He smiled a big smile. "Russia. You're going to meet my family."

"What? We can't. Lissa needs us at the surgery."

"Already taken care of. I spoke to her 2 weeks ago and she was more than happy to let us go. She's already got a replacement for me and Jill's doing your shifts. This is important to me Rose; I want you to meet my family."

"Are you sure they'll like me?"

"Rose. They'll love you. You don't need to worry." He pulled me closer and kissed my head.

"Thank you."

"What for Roza?"

"The trip. And you."

"I love you Rose."

"I love you too."

"So, when do we leave?

"Tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow? That was short notice. I'm gonna have to go pack now. And we just unpacked all my stuff." I jumped up off the lounge quickly and headed to the bedroom. "You coming? You gotta pack too."

"Yes, but not as much as you. I still have clothes at my mom's house. I came here not knowing I was going to stay here, let alone fall in love."

"Well I'm glad you decided to stay." I gave him a big smile and opened the wardrobe doors in his- I mean our- bedroom. He followed me in and flopped onto the bed face first. I puttered about the room packing the appropriate clothing. Dimitri had informed me that the weather was going to be warm, but not California weather. I supposed Russia was always cold in some way. He told me to pack light and take some nice clothes. I was confused as to why he had told me to do so. But I never questioned it. He rolled over on the bed and watched me as I packed my bag.

"Like what you see?"

All I heard was a low "Mhmm"

After I finished packing I flung myself down on to the bed. I rolled into his arms and he held me for a while. We didn't do anything that night. We just slept in each other's arms.

We woke up early the next morning as our plane left at 10am. We needed to be there a few hours earlier due to customs and check in. We had first class tickets, thanks to Dimitri's wages as a doctor. The tickets were fantastic. The trip was pleasant. We chatted most of the way and I fell asleep towards the end. Dimitri had his head buried in one of his western books and once he started, he couldn't put it down. So I never disturbed him. He informed me that once we landed in the capital that we would have to drive about 4 hours before we reached his home town. He had already organised a rental car and he loaded the car up with our luggage and he helped me into the car as I was still half asleep from the long plane ride.

The car trip was relatively quiet aside from Dimitri telling me about what he used to do in town when he was a kid. It was nice to hear about all this. And little by little, it made me love him more. Not that it was possible. Several hours passed in the car when Dimitri turned his attention of the road.

"You ready for this Roza?"

I took a deep breath. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Good." He reached for my hand and he kissed it lightly. "Let's go."

I nodded and Dimitri pulled into a dark driveway.

I was nervous. I wasn't sure if Dimitri's family would like me. I really hoped they did. If they didn't, I had no idea what I would do.

Dimitri took our small overnight bags off the back seat and took my hand.

"Why only the overnight bags?"

He looked at me with a small sneaky smile. "We aren't staying here the whole time. When do you think we'll have alone time here? Once you meet everyone you'll understand."

He squeezed my hand lightly and led me to the front door. He put the bags down and rang the doorbell. Why was I so nervous? All I wanted from this night was for everything to go perfectly. And it did.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 13**

Olena, Dimitri's mother had greeted us at the door flanked by Paul, Dimitri's nephew. He looked so much like him; it was a wonder Paul wasn't his kid. And he was holding a little girls hand who I soon learnt to be Zoya, Dimitri's 2 year old niece. His 3 sisters and his grandmother sat in the lounge room, anxiously waiting our arrival. Obviously, Dimitri had informed them of our visit as I could smell food wafting from the kitchen. I couldn't decipher the smell so I had presumed it was a Russian dish. And then I soon realised I was going to have to get used to it now that I was with Dimitri.

Dimitri's grandmother only spoke Russian, but greeted me with kisses on the cheek and a quick nod of the head after she looked me up and down. Dimitri's three sisters, Karolina, Sonya and Viktoria all greeted me with big bear hugs. It was like they hadn't seen me in years, despite only just meeting. Dimitri just smiled at me as he hugged his mother and spoke something in Russia.

"Roza, how about you sit down with everyone? I've just got to speak with mama for a moment."

I was sceptical, but he gave me a reassuring smile and I allowed his younger sister to pull me into the lounge room. She was a few years younger than me and looked so much like Olena. She was very chatty that's for sure.

"So, how did you guys meet?"

"Um, wouldn't you guys prefer to hear the story from both of us?"

"I'm sure Dimka won't mind. He could be talking to mama for ages knowing him so we could be here a while."

"Ok. Well," I was nervous and I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell this story. Or the part where I slept with him, or when he broke up with me and I slept with someone else. "I was running late for work one day and my boss wanted coffee before work. The line was really long and your brother was leaving when he saw me getting frustrated with the line. So he gave me his coffees and said he could wait again. Then he gave me his number and then later that day I set up a date and I guess the rest is history." I had been looking down at my hands when I heard a light and familiar chuckle from the door way. I looked up to see Dimitri leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.

"Mama says dinner is ready. She wants us in the dining room."

He walked over to me and sat down on the arm of the recliner I had sat on earlier. He kissed my head.

"You ok Roza?"

"Yeah, I'm ok. Just nervous."

"You? Nervous? I never thought I'd see the day."

I reached up and kissed him on the cheek,

"Didn't you say dinner was ready?"

"Oh, yes. Mama told me that if you don't like any of the food that she has some American food in the fridge for you. But I'm sure you'll love the food."

"As much as I love you?"

"No, probably not that much."

We both chuckled together and he took my hand and led me to the dining room. It was like Christmas in there. The table had been nicely set and there were candles in the centre of the large table.

"Mrs Belikova, you didn't have to go through all this trouble."

"Call me Olena. And to be honest Rose, this isn't trouble. Wait til you come and visit for Christmas. Then you'll see what trouble looks like."

From the corner of my eye I saw Dimitri shake his head. I put my hand under the table and squeezed his leg gently. He looked up at me and smiled a half-hearted smile. Dinner had been delicious. I was still unsure as to what the food was but it was relatively normal. No brains or anything like that. Thank heavens. After dinner, everyone retired to the living room for coffee. Viktoria had put Paul and Zoya to bed and headed off herself because Olena had told her it was a school night. Yeva, Dimitri's grandmother, was sitting in her rocking chair and had started knitting. Karolina and Sonya had taken the small lounge and Olena had taken the recliner I had been on earlier. This left me and Dimitri to sit on the 3-seater lounge, which Dimitri took up most of due to his height. I didn't want to sit too close in case it gave anyone the wrong idea. But Dimitri obviously knew the rules as he pulled me close and swung my legs up onto the lounge. He held me in his arms as we made friendly chit chat with his mother and sisters. The all caught up on what had been happening since Dimitri had moved to the states. It was a lovely site and I could see why Dimitri and his mother had such a connection. She was such an adoring and loving woman who cared deeply for all her children and grandchildren. When it started to get late, we said goodnight to everyone downstairs and headed to Dimitri's old bedroom. The bed had been replaced with a queen bed. I was surprised that he could still fit on this bed. He must've read my mind at that point because he answered with:

"The bed sizes are different. Being this tall is more common around here than you think."

I giggled and got ready for bed. Dimitri did the same and climbed into bed with me. We lay in silence for a while until he finally spoke up.

"They really like you, you know? Everyone does. Even Yeva. And she's hard to please."

I took that as a compliment. "Really? How do you know?"

"Mama told me I looked happy and that she loved that I was happy. She even told me that you already felt like a daughter to her. You really impressed them Roza. I'm so proud of you."

"I love you Dimka."

"Not you too? Let me guess, Viktoria called me that and you thought it would be funny to use it?"

"I'm sorry. I'll never use it again. I just wanted to see your reaction. I love you Dimitri. Is that better?"

"Much," he kissed me softly in the dark before snuggling into my back. "I love you too my dear Roza. Now get some sleep, we have a lot to do tomorrow."


	14. Chapter 14

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 14**

He was right. The next day was busy. He took me into town and showed me his old school, the church where his parents got married. It was beautiful. I wondered if he would ever want to get married. Every time he spoke, there was sincerity in his voice that made it clear that this place was seared onto his heart. And I was right. This place was beautiful, no doubt about it. Would he want to move here? To be honest, I wouldn't care as long as I was with him. He took me shopping after we toured the tiny town. There wasn't much but I found a souvenir shop on the other side of town.

"Wouldn't you rather wait til we head to the city tomorrow Rose? There's more there."

"No. I want something from here." I pointed to the small store across the road.

"But you have something from here." He smiled at me.

"What do I have from here exactly Dimitri?"

"Me" His smile turned into a cheeky grin. He leant down and kissed me on my head. I elbowed him back and smiled a wide grin.

"Oi! That hurt!"

We were headed across a park towards the shop and I took off. I knew I was in trouble after elbowing him. He laughed loudly and chased after me. When he caught up, he grabbed me around the waist from behind and spun me around. He fell to the ground, still holding onto me and we spent at least five minutes rolling around on the grass, laughing. After we decided not to visit the souvenir shop, we stay lying on the grass in the park. We held hands and spent the rest of the afternoon looking at the clouds and talking. It was bliss.

"Would you ever want to move back here?" I asked him.

"Hmm, I don't know. I mean, I love it here. But I grew up here, I only just left home. Maybe when I'm a lot older, like mama. Then I might move back. But it depends."

"Depends on what?"

"You, of course."

"Why me?" I had rolled over and propped up onto my elbows. He turned his head to look at me.

"Do you want to live here?" He raised an eyebrow.

I gave my best attempt at a shrug. "I don't know. I do like it here."

He smiled. "I guess we'll just have to see where the future takes us then, wont we Roza?"

I nodded. He rolled over onto his side and kissed my cheek. He sat up and started brushing grass off his duster. I giggled. "Sometimes I think you love that duster more than me."

"Close, but nothing beats you." He stood up and held out his hand. "Come on, Mama's expecting us for dinner." I glanced down at my watch. It was almost 5 and we were right on the other side of town. Luckily, we had a car. The car ride back was full of more stories but they were light hearted stories about when Dimitri's dad would take him fishing before he died. His face always saddened when he would take about his father but I knew that despite the small amount of time he spent with him, Dimitri and his dad had had a strong connection.

When we got back to the house, Olena had set the table again, this time it was nothing fancy. It was pasta. The conversations remained almost the same as the night before, everyone asking questions about us and about me. It wasn't as awkward as the first night but I was still terrified of Yeva. She spent all of dinner staring me down. Again. After dinner, we said goodnight and headed straight upstairs. We had to pack our things as we would be leaving the next morning and heading to St Petersburg for the rest of our trip.

Dimitri sat on the edge of the bed. He sighed and I turned to ask what was wrong.

"Rose, do you like my family?"

"Of course I do. Why? Do you think I don't like them?"

"You were quiet at dinner."

"Still adjusting I guess. But I really do like them. You're so much like your mom you know. Warm, caring, thoughtful." I ran my hand through his hair and straightened out a stray lock. He grabbed my hand and pulled me close.

"Good. Cause they love you. They think you're part of the family now. They want you to be."

"Will I be?"

He gave a cheeky half smile. "Maybe. I haven't decided yet."

I happily shook my head at him and he laughed it off.

"Come on Roza, bed time. We got another big day tomorrow."

We crawled into the large bed and snuggled together as if the bed could only hold one of us.

"I love you Dimitri."

"I love you too my dear Roza."


	15. Chapter 15

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 15**

The rest of the week was spent in St Petersburg. Rather than going on guided tours, Dimitri did them himself, taking me to museums and sightseeing destinations. He must've been to these places himself as he seemed to know a fair bit about the city. His vast knowledge impressed me and I couldn't help but picture him doing this as a job instead of a doctor. The thought made me giggle. Another thought that made me laugh was imagining Dimitri in traditional Russian clothing.

"What's funny?"

I muffled my giggles with my hand. "Nothing. Honestly nothing."

"Sometimes I wonder what goes through your head Rose."

"Wouldn't you like to know" I winked.

The next morning was the day we flew home. The flight took longer, but I was less than eager to go home. Dimitri had looked sad as the plane pulled out onto the runway. He was leaving his home again but we were going back together, where I would stay with him. Forever. It a while to get back through customs as we had brought some souvenirs back. It had taken all of about 30 minutes and then we were on our way again. Dimitri hailed a cab once we were outside and we were headed home. We were both too tired to unpack straight away so we left our bags at the door and flopped down onto the lounge.

"Did you enjoy yourself Rose?"

"It was amazing. I know it must've hurt having to leave again."

"It did. But I know I'll get to go back. Mama invited us back for Christmas you know?"

"Really? But we only just had Christmas. That's a fair way away. She must be sure of us."

"She is. She can tell you make me happy."

"Do I?"

"Yes. You make me very happy."

He had slumped onto the couch and I lay with my head in his lap and my legs draped over the arm rest. He was playing with my hair, which had become knotted during the plane trip. He had brushed it away from my eyes and leant down and kissed me on the forehead.

"Are you sure about me too?"

"Yes. Very sure. I've never been so sure of anyone in my life."

All I could do was smile up at him.

"Want some coffee?" I asked as I sat up slightly.

"I'll get it. I know where everything is. Plus, I know how to use my fancy machine."

"Have you always had that coffee maker?"

"Yep. Mama sent it to me when I moved here. She knows I like my coffee."

I sat up, realising something I hadn't earlier.

"But if you have the machine, why were you in the coffee shop the day we met?"

"I was out of coffee pods. So I thought I'd go and get some from the coffee shop. And it was a good day that day. I guess it was fate that I ran out of coffee pods that morning."

I smiled as he brought the coffees over and placed them on the coffee table. He assumed his position on the couch and I curled up next to him. He flicked the TV on and surfed through the channels. It had seemed apparent that he enjoyed western films too as well as books. He looked at me like a child in a toy store.

"Yes babe, you can watch it. I might go take a bath."

He landed a kiss on my cheek and before I headed to the bathroom, I took our empty coffee cups and put them in the kitchen sink. The bath had been relaxing. I had filled it with bubble bath and the bubbles swept all the way up to my neck as the water filled the tub. Dimitri knocked on the door.

"Mind if I join?"

"Of course."

"But I want you to close your eyes when I come in ok?"

I obliged when he walked in. I was a bit confused as to why he wanted me to do that. I mean, I had seen him naked plenty of times so I had no idea what was going on. The bath tub had been fairly big and after a few minutes I felt Dimitri's cold body slid in behind mine. His arms wrapped around me.

"You can open your eyes now Roza."

I did as he said and I opened my eyes. The glow of candles filled the bathroom.

"Candles?"

"Uh-huh. Just for you. Because I love you."

I relaxed back into his arms and closed my eyes. This was heaven.

**Hey guys. I apologise in advance for the lack of updates over the next week. I am going away on holidays with my boyfriend and there won't be any internet access. I will, however, write as many chapters as possible and post them when I get home. **

**Thanks so much for all the reviews guys, you're all fantastic. I'm already thinking up new stories for when this one will unfortunately come to an end. **

**Thanks so much again guys,  
Love, **

**M**


	16. Chapter 16

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 16**

_**ONE YEAR LATER**_

The time had rolled around for Lissa's wedding. She had spent so long preparing everything and if one thing was out of place, someone –meaning me, the maid of honor- would cop it. Dimitri had been chosen as Christian's best man as they had grown close over the time we had known each other. We would often spend Friday nights at their apartment with Chinese or pizza. The bachelorette party had been a blast. Lissa, Jill, Lissa's cousin Mia and I headed into the city for cocktails and dancing. Lissa barely drank anything because she didn't want a hangover the next day for her wedding. We had gone back to her apartment after as Christian was staying at Dimitri's. The next morning, I was the one with a hangover. Not a major one, but a headache nonetheless. I had barely known Mia, but she knew her coffee as she took use of Lissa and Christian's new coffee machine (courtesy of Dimitri and me) and made all 4 of us coffees to get us going. Lissa had someone come to do our hair and makeup at the apartment so none of us had to drive. Lissa went last of course because she would take longer. Lissa wore her up, meaning the rest of us wore ours down in loose curls. The dresses had been picked to perfection, all handmade to fit us like gloves. We all wore the same dress in different pastel shades. Due to my olive skin, the best choice had been beautiful lavender. I had hoped Dimitri would like it. Jill was in pink and Mia had landed baby blue. At 11, the car pulled up to collect us, driven by none other than my father. My mother had ridden shotgun but got out so she could fuss about Lissa like she was her mother. Which I knew Liss appreciated due to her mother not being around to do the things a mother was supposed to at her daughter's wedding. At 11:30, we arrived at the church. It had been beautifully decorated with flowers and chandeliers. We were handed our bouquets, the bridesmaids receiving a small bunch of white lilies. Lissa had gone for gorgeous pink roses. The music started playing and we assumed our positions. I would walk ahead of Lissa with Mia and Jill in front of me. I glanced ahead to see Dimitri standing next to Christian and two other men I had never met. But Lissa had told me one was his cousin and the other was his college roommate, Eddie. His expression showed he was nervous, as was Christian. This confused me because Dimitri had done his part so well and all he had to do was give a speech at the reception which I knew he wouldn't struggle with. The thought played on my mind only briefly as I was ushered into the church. I took a deep breath and turned around to smile at Lissa who was already in position. She smiled back. As I walked down the aisle, I felt Dimitri's eyes on me. He had liked the dress. I knew from the smile that crossed his face. I took my spot beside Jill and watched as Lissa glided down the aisle with my father on her arm. I saw a look of pure love as I glanced over to Christian.

The service had been fairly short; Lissa just wanting the church part over had made it that way. The reception had been at a hotel in town so we each had to travel about 15 minutes to get there. Lissa and Christian had gone together and I had gone with Dimitri. Luckily, we didn't have to take anyone else which gave us the chance to talk.

"Did you start crying back there Dimitri?"

"What are you talking about? Course not."

"I was sure I saw you wipe your eyes towards the end."

He looked down at the steering wheel. "I had something in my eye."

I laughed and leant over the console of the car and kissed his cheek.

"It's ok if you did. Everyone saw Christian cry and I never thought I see the day when that would happen."

He turned to smile at me and his eyes gave me a quick once over before he concentrated on the road again.

"You look beautiful today Roza."

"Lissa picked it. I was a bit sceptical but obviously she did a good job."

The rest of the trip was silent but pleasant. Dimitri had still looked nervous and I was still pondering on a possible reason. It could have just been the speech. The hotel reception room had been decorated just like the church. The bridal party's table sat at the front of the room with the dance floor in front of it. Round tables flanked the dance floor and the bar sat at the back of the room. There were wait staff huddled at the side door ready for when Lissa and Christian would enter from that side of the room. We had to wait to enter the room, which was already almost full. The emcee called us in in a pair which was good because the maid of honor was always paired with the best man which meant Dimitri and I walked in arm in arm. He pulled out my chair which was next to Lissa's and he took his place next to Christian. They were yet to arrive and I knew it was because Lissa was having her train removed from her dress which took at least 10 minutes. The emcee announced them as Mr and Mrs Ozera as everyone stood up and cheered loudly for the newlyweds as they took their seats hand in hand. I hugged Lissa lightly when she sat down Dimitri shook Christian's hand.

First up were speeches.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 17**

First up was my dad. He was speaking on behalf of Lissa's family. He spoke about how much of a daughter she was to him and how proud her parents would be of her if they were here. Lissa knew her parents watching over tonight. He recounted the memories we had shared with her and the moment he met Christian. Next up was both Christian's grandparents and his aunt. Their speech was similar to my dad's. I was supposed to be giving a speech but Lissa had already told me not to because I had already done a fair bit. Which was understandable. Plus I didn't really want to give a speech to a bunch of people I barely knew. It was Dimitri's turn next. He headed to the podium and with shaky hands, pulled his speech out of his suit pocket. His speech started out with him telling the guests about how he met Lissa first when he started working at her surgery. Then he met Christian when Lissa had invited us around for dinner one night.

"These two belong together. You can see it in both their eyes. Love is a special thing. It can make you feel all sorts of things. Passion, love, happiness. I would know. I've felt that. I'm feeling that right now. I've already had permission to do this so I hope it doesn't spoil the night for Christian and Lissa."

He removed the microphone from the stand and walked over++++ to my seat behind the table. _Oh god._ He knelt down in front of me. _OH GOD_. Was he doing what I think he's doing?

"Rose?"

"Yeah?" I managed to stutter out softly.

He chuckled at my surprise and embarrassment.

"Can you make me as happy as these two," he cocked his head towards to Lissa and Christian on my right. "Because I love you and I want to marry you. Will you?"

He pulled out a small red velvet box from his pocket and opened. I had seen the ring before. It was Yeva's. That was what he doing talking to his mom when he visited them last year. He was getting the ring from her. I was shocked. He could tell. He put the mic down on the table and took my hand.

"Rose?" he whispered. "Do you want this?"

"Yes." I whispered.

"Really?" he almost looked surprised.

"Yes" I wanted this. I wanted him forever.

He took the ring out of the box and slid on my hand. He then helped me up out of my chair and once we were standing he took my hand and held it up like I had won a+ prize. He announced loudly that I had said yes and the crowd roared with excitement. The emcee announced that dinner would be ready in 30 minutes and that we were free to dance. While most people headed for the dance floor, Lissa jumped out of her seat, almost tripping on her dress, and almost knocked me over with her bear hug.

"Rose! Oh my God!"

I was unsure if Dimitri had asked her first or if he had only asked my dad. What had my dad said? Did he let him? Or was his concerned or hesitant? That was going to be an interesting conversation when I ran into him next.

"You're not mad are you?"

She laughed. "Of course not. He told Christian last night and Christian told me on our way here earlier. I knew it was coming. You were so surprised." She hugged me again. "I'm going to go dance now and talk to some of my guests. I'll leave you to Dr Belikov." She chuckled and I spun to see Dimitri standing against the wall next to me.

"That's why you were so nervous in the car. That's why you were so quiet earlier."

He shrugged then smiled at me and then pushed himself off the wall. He leant down and kissed my forehead. "I love you Roza."

"I love you too."

The rest of the wedding went by in blur. Dinner, dancing, cake cutting, desert, more dancing. Then we saw Lissa and Christian off. Lissa had gotten changed and so had Christian. The guests made two lines to the door. Dimitri had stood opposite to me and we were the last couple Lissa and Christian had said goodbye to. They hugged me and Dimitri then they waved to everyone and then climbed into their car. As the car pulled away, Dimitri walked over to me and wrapped his arm around my waist. After we had said goodbye to whoever had hung around, we headed to the car park to go home. We were both too tired when we got home that we ended up falling asleep in our clothes. It was a blissful sleep and I didn't want to leave my bed ever. Today had been the best day I had since meeting Dimitri over a year ago in that coffee shop.


	18. Chapter 18

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

_Sorry for the lack of updates guys, I've had a TAFE assessment to do and I've been away. Plus, I've been trying to write my own original story too! Hope you enjoy this chapter!_

**Chapter 18**

Lissa had been on my back for months. Maybe it was her pregnancy. She had insisted I plan the wedding to the best standard. All Dimitri and I had wanted was simple and small, but she was determined to make it as big as hers was.

"Lissa! I swear, if you still want to be maid of honor, you will let me plan my own damn wedding"

That got her. From then on in, she only gave advice; she didn't pick a single thing. Except her dress. That she had to pick due to her large bump. The baby was due not long after the wedding and she was positive that she wasn't going to go into labour during the ceremony or the reception. She had been over the moon when she had found out. So was Christian. I had had a bet with Dimitri on how long it would take for that to happen. I had won. Just two weeks after they got back from their honeymoon, Lissa had rung me to complain about feeling queasy.

"_Liss, you're the doctor. What do you thinks wrong?" I had picked up on it straight away, but it took her a few seconds for it to click. "OH MY GOD! Do you think Dimitri could cover for me today? There's something I have to do today." I had let her know that Dimitri was fine with that and said goodbye. _

They didn't want to know what they were having. They wanted a surprise for their first child and I could see why. I, however, would want to know for my first and have surprises for any others. But that was if I was ever going to have kids. I knew Dimitri had wanted them, but he had avoided the topic, knowing it made me a bit nervous.

It took a few more weeks until everything but my dress had yet to be chosen. Lissa and Jill had joined me at the dress shop and my third bridesmaid, Dimitri's sister Viktoria, was still in Russia. She had emailed me her size and we figured she was about the same size as Jill. They were arriving a week before the wedding so if the dress didn't fit, we still had just enough time to have it altered if need be. With Dimitri down on a groomsman, Viktoria had asked if her boyfriend Ivan could fill in for Dimitri's AWOL third cousin. Dimitri had told me it was supposed to be his best friend from college in Russia but he had suddenly disappeared. He had met Ivan before and he and Viktoria were getting fairly serious, so Dimitri was more than pleased to let him fill in. Christian and Jill's now boyfriend Eddie had suits ready and Ivan was supplying his own. Dimitri had reused his suit from Lissa and Christian's wedding as it would be a hassle to have another suit custom made to fit his tall height. I had never had to pick any kind of dress in my life. Lissa and I had skipped prom because Lissa's parents had just died. Lissa had already picked out her wedding dress from a catalogue and had ordered it straight away. I had only been there one fitting, the same day we tried on bridesmaid dresses.

Dimitri and I had already picked a colour scheme: red, white and silver. The girls would wear a short red dress with silver beading, (Lissa, however, managed to wriggle her way into a longer version of the same dress so she could wear flat shoes) and carry an all-white bouquet of roses. I would carry red ones. They had been Dimitri's favourite flower, even before he met me.

**4 Months Later**

It was the week before the wedding and everything was set. We had had our respective parties a week earlier as Dimitri's family would be staying with us for the week leading up to the wedding. A few of his other relatives would be joining us but they would be staying at hotels. Apparently it was a tradition for the parents of both the bride and groom to host a party. Dimitri must've already called my dad because both he and my mom showed up just before the dinner started. They had brought a plate of food and Olena took it straight off them and placed it on the table. Olena and Karolina had already cooked and plated up food. The rest of the Belikov family was there and I had a special surprise for Paul and Zoya. "Guess what guys," I told them playfully as I pulled out two bags from under the couch. I had hidden them from Dimitri in case he asked questions. This was a surprise for him too. "You guys get to walk in front of Aunty Viktoria at our wedding." I knew Paul understood me but Zoya didn't. Olena quickly explained to Zoya what I had said and she giggled and ran over to hug me. I had been in contact with Karolina about the whole thing for a few weeks and she had given me the kid's sizes so I could secretly order them a dress and a suit. I had done that at my final fitting. Lissa had been there but luckily she had gone to the bathroom just as I was ordering them. Everyone had smiled. "You're the best Aunty Roza." Dimitri moved to stand beside me.

"You really are the best Roza. You couldn't have given me a better surprise." He wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed my head.

The dinner went perfectly with my parents getting to know Dimitri's. They got on fairly well which surprised me quite a lot. The only thing I had hoped for now was that the wedding ran smoothly and that everything went to plan. And it almost did.


	19. Chapter 19

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 19**

The morning of had gone swimmingly. I got a sleep in as we weren't getting married until late afternoon. We had decided to get married at sunset in a botanic garden. It had been spring and all the flowers were out. My dad, Dimitri and a few others spent the morning setting up. His family had stayed with me in the apartment with Lissa to help me get ready. It was a relaxing morning. Lissa had done my nails and had begun to braid two small sections of hair on either side of my head. The rest of my hair was out. It had been trimmed two weeks ago and it had also been recoloured to the tiniest shade darker than mine. Now, it was almost black. Dimitri had loved it. Lissa had wanted me to wear my hair up.

"No one will see the back of your dress."

"Liss, there is no back of the dress remember?"

Her face showed slight embarrassment. Viktoria broke the awkward silence in the room.

"I wish my hair was as long as yours Rose. It's so pretty." She said as she lightly stroked the ends of my hair. "Maybe then Ivan would like me more. Like don't get me wrong, he loves me as I am, but he has a thing for long hair."

I laughed at her confession and reassured her. "Vik, I'm sure you'll have hair as long as mine one day. Just start growing it out."

She smiled and gave me a gentle hug. She then sat down in the chair to have her done by Karolina. Lissa had designed the style and she and Karolina had spent the afternoon getting the girls hair done. Lissa had hired the lady that did her make up to do mine and the rest of girls' make up. At 3, after Olena had fixed us some sandwiches, it was time to get dressed and prepare to leave. The girls got dressed and my mother had arrived to take photos and assist in preparing and escorting us to the gardens. I was the last to slip into my dress, carefully stepping into it as to not wreck my hair.

I had picked up my phone to dial Dimitri's number to make sure they were ready for us to leave. Lissa watched on in horror. "Rose! What are you doing?! You can't talk to him. It's not time. You know the rule!"

"Liss, you told me I can't see him, there was nothing about not talking to him."

She sighed. "Still, just let me do it please Rose. We'll be here an hour if you talk to him." She took the phone out of my hand just as Dimitri picked up. Lissa answered. "Are you guys ready for us to leave? Rose was the one ringing, but she forgot the rule." They spoke a tiny bit longer and she nodded and hung up. "Alright, are we all ready to go?" She handed the phone back as I quickly stepped into my shoes. My dress had been adjusted as I sat up off the stool at the kitchen bench. My mom quickly slid the veil and clip into my hair where the braids met at the back of my head. I wouldn't wear it over my face; it would just hang behind me. My dress wasn't as full as Lissa's had been, sticking to a nice simple A-line skirt. Just as we were all about to leave, my father knocked on the door. This was one part I didn't organise. I had let Dimitri organise transportation. He escorted me down stairs, Jill holding my small train and veil (Which was longer than my dress. It had been my grandmothers.)

My jaw dropped when we got outside. It was a horse drawn cart. The girls would travel in a Rolls Royce with my mother and Dimitri's family with Paul and Zoya would take their hire car. How had he managed to keep a horse drawn cart from me? He told me it was a surprise, but I couldn't tell if this was over doing it. I had loved it nonetheless. The others left but my father had stopped our departure to give me a gift. Which was quite surprising.

"Rosemarie, I'm so proud of you. I got you something. He handed the small box over and I opened it. It was a beautiful blue pendant on a silver chain. "The stone was my grandmothers. My mother never had a daughter so because I was the eldest, I inherited it when she died. I had the chain and silver back made for it when I heard you were getting married." He took it from the box and helped to fasten it around my neck.

"Why didn't you give it to Lissa? She got married first."

He smiled. "Yes, but she's not my daughter."

He took my hand and helped me into the carriage and quickly pulled out his phone and he must've rung the pastor, who he had known for years, and told him we had just left. We got there in no time and despite my hair being slightly messed up from the open carriage, Lissa quickly pulled out a comb and hairspray and fixed my hair back to perfection. We had found a small collection of bushes we could wait behind without anyone seeing us. The music began playing from a speaker at the front and end of the aisle. Paul and Zoya walked down first holding hands. The walked up to Dimitri and gave him a hug before the sat back down with Olena and Yeva. Viktoria went next. She had never been to a wedding before as neither Karolina nor Sonja was married. Then Jill headed down and then Lissa. We had allowed Lissa and Christian to sit down together in the front row. We couldn't have a pregnant maid of honor standing for an entire ceremony.

I was the last to walk down. I snuck a sneak peak at Dimitri. He was fidgety, and he seemed very nervous. He adjusted his suit and fiddled with his hands. He looked down towards his mother who I presume gave him a reassuring smile. My father tugged me gently.

"You ready Rose?"

I nodded. I was ready, I was about to make my dreams come true. I was about to marry the man I loved.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 20**

The ceremony was short and sweet. We had written our own vows and had asked the pastor to be as short as he could. My excuse for this was that I just wanted to be married already. And I knew Dimitri wanted that too. At the end of the ceremony a car had pulled up and a guest got out of the driver's side of the car. It was a Mustang. The kind I've wanted since I could drive. Dimitri and I walked back down the aisle, hand in hand and he whispered in my ear "This is for you Rose." My jaw dropped. What? That couldn't be mine. He was already pulling a lot to pay for most of the wedding, how could he afford this too?

"What? It can't be. I already have a car."

"It's a present. An early birthday present. It's from all of us. But mainly me. Your dad told me about how much you've always wanted it. You wanna drive it to the party?" The driver threw the keys at him and he caught them in one quick movement. I nodded eagerly and he handed me the keys. I turned around and faced the crowd that had now turned around to watch us leave. I leant up and kissed Dimitri on the cheek and then we both waved the crowd off. We jumped in the car, with Dimitri helping me into the driver's seat. Some people looked a bit confused when I started to drive off rather than Dimitri driving us away. The rest of the crowd started to head to their cars and meet us down the road at the reception. Despite getting there before everyone else, we had to wait in the annex to the reception hall. It was the first time we really got to talk today.

"Roza, this is probably the most beautiful I've seen you. You're beautiful every day, but today, more than ever." He still managed to make me blush even after we had been together for almost two years. I giggled and wrapped my arms around him lightly. He tightened his grip. "Oi! Watch the dress Dr Belikov. This cost more than you think." He winked. "I'm sorry Mrs Belikova." He stuck his tongue out. Somebody poked their head into the room and ask if we were ready to come out. I hadn't seen the reception hall so I didn't know what it looked like. We quickly adjusted ourselves and headed for the door. We walked down a small hall and turned the corner to the main doors. The emcee was at the stand near where the bridal table was. Lissa had decorated, well, she planned the decorations and it was beautiful. The tables were draped in either a red or white table cloth (red tables had white table seat covers and white tables had red). Candelabras sat on each table with 5 candles on each. They had all been lighted along with other candle holders around the room. Lighting most of the room had been done by the huge crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Roses sat on every table.

"Introducing Dr and Mrs Belikov!" The emcee announced loudly as everyone cheered. We took our place at the table as people continued to cheer.

We allowed everyone to settle before we started speeches. This meant people were allowed to dance, chat and take use of the bar facility. That was the first thing I did after greeting a few people. What I had not expected though was for Adrian to be working at the bar. I had never really found out his job really was. I needed a drink but I wanted to avoid him if I could. I hadn't seen him since the night I told him about Dimitri. What would happen? He had his back turned as I approached the bar but I remembered his messy hair and his height. I also recognised his voice as he spoke to another barman. I cautiously walked up to the bar and waited until he turned around.

"Rose?"

"Hi Adrian."

His look turned from one of fun to one of shock. I could tell he no longer wanted to be here.

"So it's your wedding I'm guessing?"

I had removed my veil earlier and my hung over the straps of my dress, so it had almost been completely hidden. I took a step back from the bar so he could see.

"You guessed right." I tried to act as if nothing had happened between us all that time ago.

He winked, trying to regain his flirty ways, even with a married woman. "Nice, bet the doctor likes it." Was he being serious or sarcastic? I couldn't tell. All I managed to do was let out a light chuckle.

"Congrats Rose, I'm glad you're happy. Nice car by the way. I saw the number plates, RAD947? New initials I presume?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. It was a birthday present." He nodded and handed me a glass of champagne.

"Oh, um, can I just get water?"

He looked at me sceptically. "Sure, here you go."

As I turned to leave, I found that there was something I had to ask. "Adrian? Have you found someone yet?"

He smiled a wide smile. "Yeah, her name is Sydney. You should meet her one day. You'd like her."

I smiled back. "I'd like that. We should double." I know it sounded like we were in high school but I thought it would be best.

He winked at me as I headed back to the table as the emcee had called for speeches.

My father started speeches. Then Olena gave a speech about how she lost her husband and how much she cared for her children and that she was happy that Dimitri felt something so strong for someone, just like she had for her husband when they met. It was beautiful. I think Dimitri almost cried. I know I teared up a bit. Dimitri had insisted on making a speech. I didn't stop him. I knew he wanted to speak, to when it was his turn; he stood up after he kissed my cheek and headed to the podium.

"Meeting Rose was probably one of the best days of my life." He recounted our chance meeting at the coffee shop with some "awws" from the guests. "Believe me, I'm glad I ran out of coffees pods that day, otherwise I wouldn't have met that beautiful woman sitting there." He pointed to me and I blushed. He spoke about how powerful love was and what it meant to him. "Rose, you're the best…."

"OH MY GOD." Lissa grabbed my arm. "…Rose, my water just broke"


	21. Chapter 21

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 21**

"Holy shit Lissa, do you need to get to the hospital?"

"I can't. I haven't booked a room. Well I have, but at a special maternity hospital about 4 hours away. I don't think I'd make it there."

Dimitri had apologised to guests and told them to enjoy dinner as him and Christian helped escort Lissa to the car. I joined them, reassuring Lissa that she would be ok. They helped her into the car.

"Guys, I'd hurry, the contractions are starting." Lissa cringed with pain.

"Dimitri, you're a doctor." Christian spun around once Lissa was lying on the back seat of their new SUV. "Yeah. But not birthing doctor. I do stitches and broken bones. Not babies."

"Lissa could guide you." I turned to her. "Didn't you specialise in this in college Liss?"

She nodded. She quickly gave us a list of things she would need. Luckily, the reception hall was also a hotel and I was able to quickly book any empty room available. The guys carried Lissa upstairs as I went back to the party to find my parents. They were mingling with guests. Some people started asking questions but I didn't have time. My father responded first, with my mother heading straight for the room.

"Mom, no. I know she's pretty much your daughter, but she only wants Dimitri and Christian in there. She told me to enjoy my wedding, but I can't because my husband is upstairs helping my best friend give birth. Dimitri said he'd call when they were done. Meanwhile they want us to continue, he said we can do the cake cutting when he gets back, he doesn't think it'll take long."

"Are you sure?" she seemed worried.

"Yeah, Dimitri's a great doctor and with Lissa guiding him, that baby is going to come out perfectly." Both my parents drew me in for a hug. It had been a while since either of them hugged me but it felt good. "I'll let you know if I hear anything." Both my parents nodded and headed off to the bar. I took off to find Dimitri's family to explain where he had gone.

When I reached the Belikovs, Karolina had taken Paul and Zoya back to their hotel as it was getting late. I think Yeva must've gone too because she was nowhere in sight.

"Rose, where's Dimitri? Is Lissa ok? Do you need me for anything?"

"Olena, everything is fine. He's gone to help Lissa, they'll be ok. She's in good hands." She hugged me and told me that if I needed anything that she was there.

"Thanks Olena."

She held up her hand.

"I'm mama now, you're my daughter now." I smiled and she kissed me on the cheek.

"Thank you."

We had been back to Russia to visit everyone for Christmas and we told them the good news. Dimitri had rung them after it happened, but we wanted to go see them and tell them. They had been over the moon. Dimitri had asked mama when he rang her not to tell anyone else. They wanted to surprise everyone when we got there. And they were definitely surprised. Viktoria had jumped out of her seat, almost knocking over a glass of wine. It was at that point I asked her to be a bridesmaid. She almost choked me with the hug she gave me.

I was headed back to the table to have something to eat as all the drama had made me forget to eat when the food came out. I couldn't eat very much when I did because I was so worried about Lissa and her baby.

Another hour passed and I heard no news. Some guests had started to leave. It was nearing 11pm so I didn't blame them. Olena and the others had stayed around, plus my parents and Jill and Eddie. Ivan and Viktoria had left about 30 minutes earlier as they had an early flight back to Russia. Olena and the others weren't leaving until Monday so they decided to stay around for support. Mia had been there as we had now become friends and she wanted to be there for Lissa and Christian. They left us one table and the staff had cleared up the rest of the place. They had let us stay due to the circumstances. Adrian brought us a round of drinks and I stuck to the water I hadn't finished earlier. It approached midnight and there was still no word. A few of the others had left, leaving just Dimitri's family and my parents. At 12:30, I received a call. I picked up almost instantly.

"Dimitri? Is she ok?"

"It's a boy. Do you want to come and meet him?" It was Christian, Dimitri would have been cleaning up the baby and preparing him for us to come and see him. He was also likely to be helping Lissa recover and giving her the strongest pain medication he could get his hands on.

"We'd love to." He hung up after he apologised for the night not going as planned and I told him it was ok.

I announced the news to everyone. "That was Christian. She had a boy. They said we could go meet them." I asked the receptionist for the room they were in. They were on the third floor. Lissa had been wrapped up in the covers on the bed and her baby in Christian's tuxedo jacket. They were both lying on the bed next to each other, cooing over the baby. Dimitri was nowhere in sight when I entered the room. I made a bee-line straight for Lissa and her new baby. She handed her little boy to Christian and sat up as best she could. I hugged her gently.

"I'm sorry Rose. I wasn't expecting this to happen tonight. This little guy just wanted to come out earlier. He must've heard the party going on outside." She giggled lightly. I still couldn't see Dimitri. I noticed that there was someone on the balcony. It was Dimitri. He was on the phone. To who, I don't know. I'm sure he would tell me when he came back inside.

"Have you decided on a name yet?"

Christian answered. "Yeah. This is Mason Alexander Ozera."

I smiled. Lissa had always loved that name. I'm sure she managed to convince Christian to name their little boy that. It suited him so well. His eyes were closed but when Lissa handed him to me they opened a tiny bit. They were green, just like Lissa's.

"Lissa, I can't. You should spend this time with him. I can wait."

"Rose, you're his god-mother; you get to hold him now."

"I'm what? Really?"

"I couldn't think of a better person." Christian replied. He smiled at me. "Go on, hold him Rose."

I was handed a towel from the bathroom so I wouldn't ruin my dress. Lissa got up as best she could and Christian handed Mason to her. She carefully placed him in my arms and at that moment, Dimitri walked in. He came and stood beside me and kissed my head.

"I'm sorry Roza. I should've been down there with you."

"No, Lissa needed you. You did a good job. He's perfect."

I looked down to baby Mason and his eyes opened all the way. He looked just like Lissa. I'm sure her parents would be proud of her. I know I was. I handed Mason back to her and Dimitri said that the both of us should probably get going because I plane would leave at 2pm the next day. I didn't know where we were going. Dimitri had picked our stop over spot before we got to our final destination. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me gently. We said our goodbyes and headed back home. I drove because I could tell Dimitri was tired. When we got back to our apartment it was almost 2am. We stripped off our clothes and got straight into bed. Tonight had been amazing, even with Lissa giving birth in the hotel above the wedding reception.


	22. Chapter 22

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 22**

"Paris?!" I squealed. "Seriously? Our stop over is Paris?"

"Actually, that's where we're spending our whole honeymoon. There was no stop over to start with. I just wanted to surprise you."

'Dimitri, you bought me the car I've wanted since I could drive. Now you're taking me to Paris? This is too much, I mean way too much. You didn't have to do all this."

"Of course I did. I love you Roza. I want to make you happy."

"Dimitri, you make me happy. Just you. Not a car, not a trip to Paris. Just plain old doctor you. Nothing else."

He smiled and grabbed the carry-on bags and took my hand, leading me to the airport lounge to wait for our flight. We boarded not long after we had sat down and the flight took longer than I thought but not as long as the flight to Russia. We landed around 5am Paris time and headed straight for our hotel. We took a taxi and would hire a car later in the day. But first, we both needed sleep. Dimitri had booked what seemed to be the best hotel in Paris. He said he wanted this to be the best trip we ever have. I told him I didn't care if we stayed on a hostel, as long as I was with him. With daylight slowly approaching, we didn't get much sleep, but Dimitri had agreed for us just to stay around the hotel until we were no longer jet lagged.

It was at that point I started to feel queasy. It could have been the dodgy omelette I ate on the plane. It must've been. Dimitri had complained about it too but he didn't look nauseous. What would I do? Would I tell him and ruin our first day? Or would I just take my plane sickness tablets and sleep it off? The second option sounded better. When Dimitri had gone to find coffee, I fell back asleep. I heard him unlock the door to the room and jerked upright when I smelt the coffee. Well his coffee, I had a hot chocolate, like always. I slid up in the bed, still in the clothes I had worn on the plane. Dimitri must've had a shower without me before he went and got coffee because his hair was still slightly damp.

"You showered without me" I made a sad face and Dimitri sat on the large bed beside me.

"I'm sorry Roza, you were still sleeping, I didn't want to wake you." He kissed my forehead. He put his coffee down and snuggled up on the bed with me. "You should see the size of the bath in there Rose, its huge, you'd fit like four of me in there."

Still sleepy, I giggled. "Mhmm, can I have four of you in the tub later?"

He chuckled. "Yes you can, but only one of me. I doubt there's three other versions of me out there." He relaxed. I felt it on my back. We both sighed harmoniously and in no time, we were both asleep again. It was almost 8pm when we woke up. We had slept almost all day. But that didn't bother me. Although, I had been sleeping a lot lately, but that's because it's been so busy, what with a wedding and Lissa having her baby and work and everything. When I started to stir, I rolled over to face Dimitri. He was lying on his back, his long hair spread across the pillow. I softly stroked it which caused him to roll towards me, almost landing on top of me. I pushed him away and he woke with a jolt. I almost jumped on him, wanting the bath he had promised me earlier.

"Bath time?" I asked him childishly.

He rubbed his eyes. "Of course Roza. Wait here and I'll go fill it for you Mrs Belikova."

I giggled. I still wasn't used to the new title. I gently slid off the high bed and my feet found the ground instantly. I dawdled off to the bathroom, still sleepy. And my queasiness hadn't worn off. I found Dimitri in the suite's large bathroom. He was right, that bath was huge. But so was everything else in the room. He had been kneeling at the bathtub, filling it with bubbles and making sure it was nice and hot just how I like them. I put the lid down on the toilet and sat there waiting for the bath. But suddenly, I jumped off it, flipped the lid up. The queasiness had gotten worse and had started to come up quickly. Dimitri had almost finished the bath when he turned to see me slumped over the toilet seat. He quickly turned the taps off and raced to be beside me.

"Roza? Are you ok?"

I lifted my head to look at him.

"Yeah. Just that dodgy plane omelette."

"As long as you're sure." I nodded.

He picked me up off the floor and took the shirt I was wearing off (one of his of course) and my underwear. He sat me down in the bath before removing his clothes and climbing in behind me. He had started to rub my back when I came to a sudden revelation.

"Dimitri?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm pregnant. Well I think I am. I'm positive."

"Rose, why didn't you tell me earlier?" I was facing him now. I couldn't tell if he was shocked or excited or concerned.

"Well, for one, I had to be sure, that was the last sign I needed. Did you not notice me not drinking champagne at our wedding? I had a hunch then. But I'm positive now." He had put his head down. I bent my head down so I could see his eyes. I put a hand under his chin and lifted it so his eyes were direct with mine. "Are you mad?"

His face softened. "Of course not Roza. This is what I wanted. You know I want a family. You have just given me everything I could've asked for. Have you taken a test yet?"

"Kinda. Lissa looked me over and said there was a high chance that I was. She said I was about 5 weeks. I didn't tell you because you would've stressed out and the wedding wouldn't have been perfect."

"We never finished it because your best friend decided to give birth."

"That doesn't bother me. As long as baby Mason is fine, I don't care where or when he was born."

"Roza," he lifted his hand to caress my cheek. "Thank you, I am so happy. We're going to have our own little family now. That's all I've ever wanted. I love you."

"I love you too Dimitri." We stayed wrapped in each other's arms until the water went cold. Then we went back to bed, Dimitri's hands lying gently on my stomach.


	23. Chapter 23

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. We have Richelle Mead to thank us for Rose, Dimitri and the others.**_

**Chapter 23**

Due to my sudden news, we decided we would have to cut our honeymoon short. We still did a lot of sightseeing in Paris but things like going out at night were cut out because I was constantly tired. On our last night in Paris, we lay on the massive lounge in our hotel room. Dimitri had wrapped his arm around the small bump that was now becoming visible.

"Do you want to know what it is or do you wanna wait?"

"I'd want to know. I want to be able to prepare, like have a name ready and a nursery."

I had never thought that Dimitri would be that kind of guy, wanting to paint and decorate a nursery for his baby. We had both agreed that once they baby was big enough, we'd ask the doctor at the ultrasound what it was so we could be ready for our baby boy or girl. I had a feeling Dimitri wanted a boy, seeing as he grew up with so many girls in his house. But I could also imagine what would happen if we had a girl. I could see him trying to do her hair in the morning and picking out a girly dress for her to wear. He had admitted to wanting to be a stay at home dad and allowing me to go to work. This surprised me. I knew Dimitri loved his job but he knew he'd already love his unborn child so much that he would willingly give up his job to look after them. That's what I admired about him. Ever since the day I decided that a life with Dimitri was what I wanted, he had always put me first.

We had continued to talk baby plans when something hit me.

"We aren't going to be able to have sex for ages." I groaned.

"Well, as a doctor, I suggest that you suppress that need right now before your stomach gets too big and the baby develops more." He was being cheeky with me which had become rare now that a baby was on the way. I raised an eyebrow.

"And how do you suppose I do that Dr Belikov?"

"By having sex with me."

"Oh." I winked.

Before anything happened he jumped up, closed the curtains and turned all the lights off besides the lamp on the side table. He stood in front of me. I stood up and met his eyes. He leant down to kiss me, softly wrapping his arms around me, still trying to be wary of the teeny tiny baby inside me. It was still quite small so there wasn't a whole lot to squash. Our lips got hungrier and a passion burned between us that I was certain I had never seen. I had always seen passion cross his face with me, but never this intense. I jumped up, wrapping my legs around his waist. He held me up, only to run his hand up my thigh, which had been exposed due to my pyjama shorts. My arms encircled around his neck, gripping his hair as our kiss got more heated. He carried me to the bedroom, his lips still on mine. They were warm, like they always were. He lay me down and gently lay on top, careful not to press down too hard on my stomach. His hands brushed softly over inch of my body, covered and uncovered. I had taken this time to remove not only my shirt, but his duster and his shirt too. He helped me by removing his jeans and flung them across the room. He then rolled me onto my side and lay next to me.

"Are you sure about this? I mean you are a doctor. Couldn't this somehow damage the baby?"

"They're still in their early stages Roza, I'm sure he or she will be perfectly fine. Now, come over here and kiss me again." He smiled his gorgeous wide smile and I did as he asked, rolling over on to him and kissing him with all the power I could, like a fire burning deep within my heart. It had been a while since we had done this, almost 2 months. But it had felt like we had never stopped. To me, even after being with him for so long, it had felt like the first time I had slept with him.

His breath was hot against my neck and his every touch sent shivers down my spine. Once we had been completely naked, our bodies came together, moving as one. It was an amazing feeling, being this close to someone you love. I had never experienced a love so strong before. Everything stopped, just for those few minutes of absolute closeness and nothing else in the world had mattered.

Sleep came quickly that night. Wrapped up in the sheets, Dimitri held me in his arms, like he would never let me go. And I knew he wouldn't.

**Sorry for the lack of updates guys, I've had TAFE assignments and a wedding to attend. I will attempt to post as often as I can but I start my new job tomorrow so it may take a while for new chapters to come up. I'm doing the best I can. The story is about to get interesting and very dramatic, so stay tuned**

**M**


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